Finance and Accounting Pay to Increase in 2017

Posted January 4th, 2017

According to AccountingToday.com, accounting and finance professionals will see their salaries increase in 2017, though by how much is uncertain.

The information was released in a recent wave of 2017 salary guides cited by AccountingToday. These salary guides are created annually and encompass hiring data from all over America, helping set standards of compensation for specific roles. There are numerous guides to choose from, so we’ll discuss three of the more notable ones.

Everyone Agrees – Pay’s Going Up

One firm listed in the article above expects a 3.7 percent increase in finance and accounting salaries. This is the most favorable outlook, as the other two are considerably smaller. Another predicts a three percent increase, while one firm forecasts just 2.8 percent.

But regardless of which projection you consider, salary increases in 2017 are projected to be less than they were this past year. Salaries for finance and accounting professionals increased an average of 4.7 percent in 2016.

While disheartening, it’s worth noting that 2016 was a landmark year for finance and accounting pay. Any of the aforementioned 2017 increases would still be one of the highest in 10 years.

That’s great news for people considering a change in 2017. Accounting and finance professionals can take advantage of this candidate’s market when they’re ready. Because the reality is, many won’t experience these growing salaries unless they move.

Recall the study in Forbes, which illustrated how employees who stay at their company for longer than two years, on average, get paid 50 percent less. That alone can be enough to motivate people to look elsewhere, if the enticing projected salary increases aren’t enough.

Regardless, it’s promising to see salaries going up for the industry. And if you’re mulling a switch, the time is ripe to get what’s yours. But who wants to set all those Google and Indeed job notifications anyways? Instead of deleting a bunch of junk mail every day, why not just get the jobs you want to hear about, when it’s convenient for you?